Publication ethics and malpractice statement

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING VIOLATIONS

All participants in the process of publishing a paper in the Proceedings (authors, editors, and reviewers) are expected to act ethically in accordance with the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) best practice guidelines for ethical conduct in publishing. The Proceedings follow ethical guidelines that ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in all aspects of publication. Adherence to ethical principles and guidelines is of great importance for maintaining the quality of the Proceedings and advancing the conference through high-quality papers. The application of COPE guidelines, as well as the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (2016), ensures the highest international standards in publishing.

Only papers that have not been previously published or are not under review in another scientific publication may be submitted for publication in the Proceedings. By submitting a paper for participation in the conference and for publication in the Proceedings, the authors guarantee that the paper is original and that there are no unethical practices involved, which include: plagiarism, falsification/fabrication of results, non-compliance with ethical principles in conducting the study, and ensuring that all individuals who contributed to the paper are listed as authors, with no persons included who do not meet authorship criteria. Authors are defined as individuals who have significantly contributed to conducting the study through: designing the research and/or data collection and/or data analysis and interpretation and/or participating in drafting and shaping the final version of the paper, and who have approved the final version of the paper and agree to be responsible for all aspects of the submitted work.

In studies involving human or animal subjects, all activities and procedures must comply with ethical rules regulated by national and EU legal acts and the Declaration of Helsinki. Authors must state in their paper that they adhered to all these rules and principles of ethics when conducting their research, and indicate whether participants signed an informed consent form which specified that they could withdraw from the study at any time. If the study received approval from an ethics committee, this should also be stated in the paper.

Any suspicion of deviation from ethical principles must be reported to the editor, who is responsible for investigating the validity of the report of unethical conduct. If there is evidence supporting the allegations of unethical behavior, the editor will contact the authors, withdraw the paper from the publication process, and reject the paper. If the paper has already been published, a notice of retraction will be published on the website under Proceedings (link), and the authors will be notified accordingly.

Authors are responsible for the originality of their work, proper citation and paraphrasing of the sources used, and ensuring that the same results are not published more than once. Papers may be checked for plagiarism using the Turnitin PlagScan software in cases of suspected plagiarism, to ensure originality and maintain quality. The maximum permissible overlap is 20%. If a higher overlap is found, the paper will be rejected.

Reviewers play a significant role in detecting potential unethical practices. If, during the review process, they notice substantial overlap or similarity with already published papers, they are obliged to inform the editor about it.

The editor will promptly take all necessary steps to investigate and resolve any doubts regarding a breach of ethical principles, which includes communication with all relevant participants and either correcting or retracting/rejecting the paper.

Open Access and Publication Costs

The author retains all copyright and intellectual property rights to the work, while granting the Proceedings the right to publish it. All papers in the Proceedings are freely available for reading and sharing immediately upon publication. Open access to published papers supports the global exchange of knowledge and information. All papers presented at the conference are published in the Proceedings without additional costs.

The review process, as well as reviewers’ duties and responsibilities, are available at the following link (link to the review process).

Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

By submitting a paper for publication in the Proceedings, authors agree to the review process and all potential checks for originality.

The paper submitted for publication in the Proceedings must not have been published or be under consideration for publication in any other scientific publication.

Authors must ensure that the submitted paper is original and that all ideas and information taken from other publications are properly cited.

Only those who have made a significant contribution to conducting the study and writing the paper should be listed as authors, while individuals who contributed but are not authors may be acknowledged at the end of the paper.

Authors are required to present research results, as well as the description of the research and procedures, accurately and precisely to reflect the actual data collected during the study.

Authors must protect the privacy of data concerning persons who participated in the described research and ensure that all procedures are in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and other relevant ethical principles and rules for conducting research.

Upon submission of the paper, authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest, including financial and employment-related relationships that could have influenced the research and results.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Editor

The editor must ensure an anonymous, transparent, and impartial review process that is completed within a reasonable time frame.

The editor must maintain the confidentiality of papers and all data on the participants of the review process: authors and reviewers, as well as the confidentiality of the content of submitted papers (papers submitted to the Proceedings can only be shared with reviewers and the publisher).

The editor is obliged to respond to any suspicion of unethical conduct by any participant during the submission, review, or publication of papers in the Proceedings, to investigate the allegations, and to ensure actions in accordance with COPE guidelines.

The editor must be impartial and objective in their work and must not discriminate against participants in the publication process on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, religion, political beliefs, ethnicity, geographic origin, or any other grounds.

The editor is responsible for decisions regarding the acceptance or rejection of papers and must have no conflicts of interest in making such decisions.

The editor should strive to improve the quality of the conference and the Proceedings, while respecting freedom of expression.